Search form

Drone Flights in the U.S.

Drone Flights in the U.S.

EFF filed suit against the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), demanding data on certifications and authorizations the agency has issued for the operation of unmanned aircraft, also known as drones. The Federal Aviation Authority, part of the DOT, is the sole entity within the federal government responsible for authorizing domestic drone flights, providing a certification or authorization for any drone flying over 400 feet. Prior to our suit, there was no information available to the public about who specifically had obtained these authorizations or for what purposes. Through our lawsuit, we received specific and detailed information on the drone licensing process that was never before released. This prompted significant public awareness and discussion about the privacy and surveillance issues with drones. EFF partnered with MuckRock, an open government organization that helps individuals send requests for public records, to crowd-source FOIA requests to local law enforcement agencies about their use of unmanned aircrafts. EFF also filed a follow up request with DOT for more detailed records in October of 2012. Additionally, EFF asked the Department of Homeland Security about how and why Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) is using its predator drones on behalf of other law enforcement agencies.

We have plotted out all the information we've received about applications to fly domestic drones on ourMap of Domestic Drone Authorizations. (Clicking this link will serve content from Google.)

Related Content

Privacy advocates, however, say drones have the potential for abuse. Drones can use infrared vision to see through walls, tap into WiFi connections to monitor Internet activity and intercept phone calls, said Trevor Timm, policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Legislation being proposed in states can exempt uses of...

In Florida, three agencies have applied for a drone license with the Federal Aviation Administration: The Miami-Dade Police Department and sheriff’s offices in Orange and Polk Counties but they have not used the aircraft during an actual operation. The University of Florida has applied for a license to use them...

Citing a warning from digital watchdog group Electronic Frontier Foundation, they add that “there’s currently no legal firewall stopping the government from equipping drones with rubber bullets, tasers or other so-called ‘non-lethal weapons’ that research suggests get deployed on people of color at higher rates and that mirror other kinds...

This prospect is likely unnerving to many people who hold their privacy dear. Indeed, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital-rights organization, has already begun filing lawsuits to get the FAA to release information about drone-license applicants. Eighty-two public entities asked for permission to fly unmanned aerial vehicles over...

“It’s not that individuals won’t get these technologies, but their ability to use this data that they capture isn’t quite as frightening,” said Parker Higgins, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based foundation. It has twice sued the FAA and won access to information that shows what entities the FAA has...

It’s been a busy year for EFF’s Transparency Project (read our greatest hits here), but no issue has occupied us, and garnered more attention with the public, than our work on domestic drones.
Since EFF started sounding the alarm about domestic drones in late 2011, the issue has...

This week, EFF once again joins a coalition of national and local transparency and press organizations in celebrating Sunshine Week as a way to bring attention to the importance of public records and the need to remain vigilant despite government push-back.
Forty-seven years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed...

"State lawmakers of both parties have realized this issue is critical in voters' minds, and they've decided to take a stand for privacy," said Trevor Timm, an activist with the Electronic Frontier Foundation focusing on surveillance issues. "In all my work at EFF, I've never seen anything that so unites...